The Tamiya Super Avante #58696 Information and Pictures

[XJman]

4 hours ago, Cynan said:

I’ve used a Hobbywing V10.

No issues with crap getting in the motor? I thought the v10 was a vented case and not sealed?

[Cynan]

Just now, XJman said:

No issues with crap getting in the motor? I thought the v10 was a vented case and not sealed?

I’ve not run it outside yet.. wet weather and not finished the shell yet. But I presume you can cover the vents if needed.

[RichieRich]

6 hours ago, matisse said:

any idea if other spurs might fit?

The slipper assembly looks almost identical to the one in the TRF201. So maybe those spurs will fit? I have a feeling Associated spurs would work too.

[ThunderDragonCy]

1 hour ago, RichieRich said:

The slipper assembly looks almost identical to the one in the TRF201. So maybe those spurs will fit? I have a feeling Associated spurs would work too.

That's what I thought. The spur looks like the 48dp trf201 part to me. I haven't seen any 0.6 mod spurs for this, but associated b4 spurs by kimbrough fit and are available in 75, 72 and 69 tooth options. 

[matisse]

31 minutes ago, ThunderDragonCy said:

That's what I thought. The spur looks like the 48dp trf201 part to me. I haven't seen any 0.6 mod spurs for this, but associated b4 spurs by kimbrough fit and are available in 75, 72 and 69 tooth options. 

Do they fit with the slipper pads though? Feels like there is a reason Tamiya only released a 77t and no lower for the 201/db01 ….

[ThunderDragonCy]

1 hour ago, matisse said:

Do they fit with the slipper pads though? Feels like there is a reason Tamiya only released a 77t and no lower for the 201/db01 ….

Yes, they definitely do. I run 72 and 69 associated spurs on my 201 and 211 to get low enough gear ratios 

[ThunderDragonCy]

The only reason Tamiya didn't release a smaller spur is because they still think 10 fdr and 10t brushed motors are the way 😂

[Boomerang89]

My Japanese still is rusty, however I like these type of video's where SA is compared to another car:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gMNhpxGSSHA

Seems SA is the better flyer. However TFevo appears to be quicker. Could be the driver of course.

Would love to see it campared to a Lazer or Xray.

[rwordenjr]

Body is done! On way back to me. 

[Cynan]

31 minutes ago, rwordenjr said:

Body is done! On way back to me. 

Looking good! Who did you use?

[rwordenjr]

16 minutes ago, Cynan said:

Looking good! Who did you use?

Thanks ! Will post painter info soon as I get it back lol 

[Busdriver]

1 hour ago, rwordenjr said:

Thanks ! Will post painter info soon as I get it back lol 

He’s ( or she) has done a proper job on that. Masking the outside would be tricky to do this but inside I 🙇

[Mtbikewv]

A little speed run today and hit 51.3 mph with 3s and 10.5 turn.

[rwordenjr]

7 minutes ago, Mtbikewv said:

A little speed run today and hit 51.3 mph with 3s and 10.5 turn.

What’s your gearing ?

[Mtbikewv]

25 minutes ago, rwordenjr said:

What’s your gearing ?

That is with the 77t spur (slipper) and a 27t pinion. 

[Howards]

Some things that surprise me about this kit; 

The plastics are softer than I expected. It's very easy to drive a machine screw in to them and it does not require a thread former. I'm guessing it's not the same formulation that was used on the DB chassis and that softness is intentional to make assembly easier and the parts less likely to snap in a collision or crash. 

Given that the plastics are soft, the entirely plastic diff nut is a bit silly. They already had a plastic diff nut that had a recess for a metal locking nut - it boggles my mind now that they didn't use this design and instead went for all plastic as I suspect the softer plastics used means the diff nut is prone to stripping on assembly as the initial threads can't take the force required to start compressing the spring. So yeah.

Then again, it's good that XV01 gear diffs drop straight in.  

The amount of flex in the chassis tub, again because the plastics seem somewhere between 'old' Tamiya and DB / TRF Tamiya. 

The amount of foam required to seal the gearbox. It's good that they want it sealed, I guess...

The front damper cylinders are tiny. Same size, or slightly smaller than the Avante / Vanquish hi-caps.

That the don't recommend backing the PS16 before you put the yellow down. Yellow is quite deep and PS16 is quite translucent - some folks bodies will end up sludgey. 

/PSA....

 

[tamiya3speed]

Still waiting on my slipper from Tower.  Shipped the 23rd and shows departed Fedex facility on the 26th.  Has no further scans since even though it was projected to deliver here in Ohio yesterday. Likely sitting in a trailer in California waiting for a driver.  Last tower package via Fedex took something like 9 days to make it from two states away.  Looks like the slipper is on the same timeline.

[joeling]

Installed Sway Bars & alloy ball diff retaining nut. IMHO, this alloy nut is the most important upgrade for this kit. The plastic retaining nut just not up to the task. Another USD18 spent. I made the mistake of just getting one. Installed for the front first. Getting a second one for the rear.

 

[RichieRich]

Ok, I finally finished my build over several evenings of an hour here a coupe hours there. I still need to paint the body. It's been especially rainy here in So Cal so not the best weather for painting. I've added the slipper clutch 22031, front universals 22028, TT02B/DF03 dampers 54993 and I swapped out the external bearings with rubber sealed versions. I'm not going to post any pics yet because I'd just be posting the same thing as everyone else.

After building the car, it seems there's a lot more disassembly needed to do things. If you want to replace the motor, the whole rear has to come apart. If you don't install the slipper during your build, you have to disassemble the whole top/rear of the chassis. Also, what's with the diff adjuster cap? I mean they couldn't find a better way to attach this? Time to buy some K parts trees to replace the little cap when it falls off after a hard landing.

I do like the plastics. Not too brittle and not soft like the standard Tamiya ABS. I really like the uniqueness of the chassis. It's definitely something different. Once it drys out a bit, I'll paint the body and take it out for a spin. Also, I'm not doing box art...probably like a modified box art-ish paint job.

[rwordenjr]

4 hours ago, RichieRich said:

Ok, I finally finished my build over several evenings of an hour here a coupe hours there. I still need to paint the body. It's been especially rainy here in So Cal so not the best weather for painting. I've added the slipper clutch 22031, front universals 22028, TT02B/DF03 dampers 54993 and I swapped out the external bearings with rubber sealed versions. I'm not going to post any pics yet because I'd just be posting the same thing as everyone else.

After building the car, it seems there's a lot more disassembly needed to do things. If you want to replace the motor, the whole rear has to come apart. If you don't install the slipper during your build, you have to disassemble the whole top/rear of the chassis. Also, what's with the diff adjuster cap? I mean they couldn't find a better way to attach this? Time to buy some K parts trees to replace the little cap when it falls off after a hard landing.

I do like the plastics. Not too brittle and not soft like the standard Tamiya ABS. I really like the uniqueness of the chassis. It's definitely something different. Once it drys out a bit, I'll paint the body and take it out for a spin. Also, I'm not doing box art...probably like a modified box art-ish paint job.

The diff cap doesn’t stay on? I was worried about it not coming off to be able to do adjustments because the rubber cement should keep it stuck in there 

[Boomerang89]

22 hours ago, Howards said:

Some things that surprise me about this kit; 

Given that the plastics are soft, the entirely plastic diff nut is a bit silly. They already had a plastic diff nut that had a recess for a metal locking nut - it boggles my mind now that they didn't use this design and instead went for all plastic as I suspect the softer plastics used means the diff nut is prone to stripping on assembly as the initial threads can't take the force required to start compressing the spring. So yeah.

/PSA....

 

Thanks for your review.

These kind of things always surprises me that companies get away with. Design something that's not fit for purpose so some upgrade needs to be bought.

Any chance of pre-threading the plastic nut before assembling it?

Or use a normal DIY locknut?

[matisse]

22 hours ago, Howards said:

Some things that surprise me about this kit; 

The plastics are softer than I expected. It's very easy to drive a machine screw in to them and it does not require a thread former. I'm guessing it's not the same formulation that was used on the DB chassis and that softness is intentional to make assembly easier and the parts less likely to snap in a collision or crash. 

Given that the plastics are soft, the entirely plastic diff nut is a bit silly. They already had a plastic diff nut that had a recess for a metal locking nut - it boggles my mind now that they didn't use this design and instead went for all plastic as I suspect the softer plastics used means the diff nut is prone to stripping on assembly as the initial threads can't take the force required to start compressing the spring. So yeah.

Then again, it's good that XV01 gear diffs drop straight in.  

The amount of flex in the chassis tub, again because the plastics seem somewhere between 'old' Tamiya and DB / TRF Tamiya. 

The amount of foam required to seal the gearbox. It's good that they want it sealed, I guess...

The front damper cylinders are tiny. Same size, or slightly smaller than the Avante / Vanquish hi-caps.

That the don't recommend backing the PS16 before you put the yellow down. Yellow is quite deep and PS16 is quite translucent - some folks bodies will end up sludgey. 

/PSA....

 

I had noticed how soft the plastic was when forming the threads, but figured I do it anyway as I had the tool and it’s probably good practice to do it properly.

same for the diff nut, I’ve plenty of experience with plastic nuts from micros so I’ll probs pre thread the nut and compress the spring, give it every chance of holding. From experience the issues tend to come from construction as the spring is acting against the forming of the threads, makes it very easy to damage them

Not overly worried about the flex in the chassis, but this will be a very personal thing on driving style and track type tbh, I could see a market for a carbon brace to replace the current one to stiffen it though. I’m going to run with out the kit one to begin with, see how it is. 
 

 

[BloodClod]

58 minutes ago, Boomerang89 said:

Thanks for your review.

These kind of things always surprises me that companies get away with. Design something that's not fit for purpose so some upgrade needs to be bought.

Any chance of pre-threading the plastic nut before assembling it?

Or use a normal DIY locknut? 

My experience was that the plastic held in less demanding conditions running like dirt tracks and higher turn motors.

I had issues getting the tension I needed when I tried to set it properly for a 8.5T motor with a slipper and running in astro... I'll explain what I experienced in a separate post.

Also discovered the diff nut set for the TRF201 works if you can find it. Cheaper too as it comes without the diff spring, balls and washers.

[Howards]

FWIW I thread formed the diff nut before assembly but both still croaked. Just going to use the XV01 gear diffs for now - I had a Lancia kit unbuilt so just chucked them together and the dropped straight in. Will order the alloy diff nuts or fit the plastic/metal DB01 diff nut if I have any in my spares. 

[BloodClod]

I had an interesting experience with the slipper set. The included instructions suggest an initial setting with the slipper nut 3.5mm in from the end of the threaded shaft. I found this to be very much on the tight side.

I tried this setting and then proceeded to adjust my ball diffs to match the slipper setting - the slipper should slip before the ball diffs do. It's at this time I stripped out the plastic nut. Simply no way to tighten the ball diff enough to get the slipper to slip before the diffs. 

I backed off the slipper to a looser setting that I thought was ok (but on the looser side) and installed the aluminium diff nuts. Then I observed a different issue.

I found that on a high grip surface that really tests a transmission, the bevel gears that transmit power to the center shaft started to skip, which resulted in a clicking sound. I inspected the gears after and found some of the teeth a bit deformed because of this. This was with the slipper at a loose setting.

My take is that the plastic bevel gears may not be able to handle a hot motor and a high grip surface - even with a slipper installed. One suspicion is that there is some play between the gear and the shaft it rides on. I've tentatively tried to remove that play and will see if it works. I'll also be looking out for part tree A to be released to replace my gears with fresh ones.

I wonder if anyone else is trying this car on astro with race conditions (I'm running a 8.5t currently) and if they have had a similar experience.

Aside from this, the car drives decently well on the astro track and I think could be a decent platform to set up for some decent racing performance.